"Buyers are far more discriminating, and a large percentage of the homes listed for sale don't sell the first time. It's more critical than ever to learn what you need to know to avoid costly seller mistakes in order to sell your home fast and for the most amount of money.”

Remember not so long ago, when you could make your fortune in real estate. It was nothing then to buy a home, wait a short while, and then sell it at a tidy profit.

And then do it all over again.

Well, as you probably know, times have changed. As good as the market is right now, home prices are still below what they were at their peak. Buyers are far more discriminating, and a large percentage of the homes listed for sale never sell. It's more critical than ever to learn what you need to know to avoid costly seller mistakes in order to sell your home fast and for the most amount of money. 

1. Failing to analyze why they are selling. 
2. Not preparing their home for the buyer's eye. 
3. Pricing their homes incorrectly. 
4. Selling too hard during showings. 
5. Signing a long-term listing agreement without a written performance guarantee. 
6. Making it difficult for buyers to get information on their home. 
7. Failing to obtain a pre-approved mortgage for one's next home. 

Selling your home is one of the most important steps in your life. This 9 step system will give you the tools you need to maximize your profits, maintain control, and reduce the stress that comes with the home selling process:

The reasons behind your decision to sell affect everything from setting a price to deciding how much time and money to invest in getting your home ready for sale. What's more important to you: the money you walk away with, or the length of time your property is on the market? Different goals will dictate different strategies. 

However, don't reveal your motivation to anyone else or they may use it against you at the negotiating table. When asked, simply say that your housing needs have changed.

Settling on an offering price shouldn't be done lightly. Once you've set your price, you've told buyers the absolute maximum they have to pay for your home, but pricing too high is as dangerous as pricing too low. Remember that the average buyer is looking at 15-20 homes at the same time they are considering yours. This means that they have a basis of comparison, and if your home doesn't compare favorably with others in the price range you've set, you won't be taken seriously by prospects or agents. As a result, your home will sit on the market for a long time and, knowing this, new buyers on the market will think there must be something wrong with your home.

(In fact, your agent should do this for you). Find out what homes in your own and similar neighborhoods have sold for in the past 6-12 months, and research what current homes are listed for. That's certainly how prospective buyers will assess the worth of your home.

Nearly three-quarters of homeowners claim that they wouldn't use the same realtor who sold their last home. Dissatisfaction boils down to poor communication which results in not enough feedback, lower pricing and strained relations. Another FREE report entitled, "10 Questions to Ask Before You Hire an Agent” gives you the straight, to-the-point questions you should be asking when you interview agents who want to list your home. You can obtain a FREE copy of this report from my website.

Each year, corporate North America spends billions on product and packaging design. Appearance is critical, and it would be foolish to ignore this when selling your home.

You may not be able to change your home's location or floor plan, but you can do a lot to improve its appearance. The look and feel of your home generates a greater emotional response than any other factor. Clean like you've never cleaned before. Pick up, straighten, unclutter, scrub, scour and dust. Fix everything, no matter how insignificant it may appear. Present your home to get a "wow" response from prospective buyers.

Allow the buyers to imagine themselves living in your home. The decision to buy a home is based on emotion, not logic. Prospective buyers want to try on your home just like they would a new suit of clothes. If you follow them around pointing out improvements or if your decor is so different that it's difficult for a buyer to strip it away in his or her mind, you make it difficult for them to feel comfortable enough to imagine themselves an owner. 

You may be surprised to know that some marketing tools that most agents use to sell homes (e.g. traditional open houses) are actually not very effective. In fact only 1% of homes are sold at an open house.

Furthermore, the prospects calling for information on your home probably value their time as much as you do. The last thing they want to be subjected to is either a game of telephone tag with an agent, or an unwanted sales pitch. Make sure the ads your agent places for your home are attached to a 24 hour prerecorded hotline with a specific ID# for your home which gives buyers access to detailed information about your property day or night 7 days a week without having to talk to anyone. It's been proven that 3 times as many buyers call for information on your home under this system. And remember, the more buyers you have competing for your home the better, because it sets up an auction-like atmosphere that puts you in the driver's seat. 

In the negotiation process, your objective is to control the pace and set the duration. What is your buyer's motivation? Does s/he need to move quickly? Does s/he have enough money to pay you your asking price? Knowing this information gives you the upper hand in the negotiation because you know how far you can push to get what you want.

For your part as a seller, make sure you disclose everything. Smart sellers proactively go above and beyond the laws to disclose all known defects to their buyers in writing. If the buyer knows about a problem, s/he can't come back with a lawsuit later on.

Make sure all terms, costs and responsibilities are spelled out in the contract of sale, and resist the temptation to diverge from the contract. For example, if the buyer requests a move-in prior to closing, just say no. Now is not the time to take any chances of the deal falling through.

Studies have shown that it is more difficult to sell a home that is vacant because it looks forlorn, forgotten, simply not appealing. It could even cost you thousands. If you move, you're also telling buyers that you have a new home and are probably highly motivated to sell fast. This, of course, will give them the advantage at the negotiating table.

"The way buyers want to view your home moving forward has changed. Home buyers are scared and cautious, about a lot of things. Ad, so we all should be. Various realtor associations had banned public open houses altogether to comply with social distancing measures. Marketing strategies, home showing protocols and methods of exposing you home will be critical moving forward, if you're serious and want your home sold...”

What do you need to do to prepare YOUR HOME moving forward? It all starts with selecting the right Realtor with a proven marketing plan, tools and experience to market & showcase your home in its best possible light to the MOST amount of buyers. The marketing plan to showcase your should include:

• Good, clean, preferably professional grade photography. First impressions are created online when a prospective buyer views your home online. You want the most for your home, It NEEDS to look its best
• Video tours with information of your home help to expose everything about it.
• 360 degree virtual tours - buyers want to see inside your home. Technology allows for this now You should ensure your realtor is leveraging this technology to maximize your home exposure. These tours will "weed out" the "looky loos and nosy neighbours" and qualify proper, motivated buyers, before they arrange to "psychically view" your home.
• Online virtual feature sheets - buyers want details about your home and not just nice photos and videos. Providing information, such as property taxes, utility amounts, lists of upgrades to your home and other pertinent details are important. 
• Where possible, floor plans of your home help buyers to envision where the rooms are located, along with room size dimensions, etc.

Once your home is exposed to its maximum with a good marketing plan, you need to prepare it for physical showings with Realtors and their buyer clients. To safeguard your family and theirs, simple protocols will help. This includes:

• Turning on EVERY light in your home. Not only does this make your home appear more inviting and expose it at its best, but it will ensure no one has to touch any light switches, potentially leaving germs behind in your home and vice versa. The realtor showing and buyers will also appreciate this gesture.
• Opening closet doors, room doors, pantry doors, etc. Again, this will help alleviate the need for "touch".
• Leaving windows covers and blinds half drawn. Buyers may wish to see your window treatments, but will also want to see outside and rooms with natural light. By having them half drawn, this will help to reduce the need to "touch".
• Wiping down surfaces, door handles, light switches, etc with soap and water, household cleaners, etc. It is good common practice to get in the habit of doing so before and after each showing. Hopefully your home will sell quick. muring the time on market, you will need to be prepared to make this a habit to protect yourself and others.

In addition to all these safeguarding measures, local real estate boards also have showing protocols. Any and all realtors and their clients coming in to your home should provide a disclosure statement indicating that they have no symptoms or haven't been exposed to anyone with symptoms of Covid 19 or any other infectious virus or disease. Common courtesy and practice would be to avoid allowing those into ones home if they ar aware of or exhibit those symptoms. The same goes with the seller making this disclosure to prospective buyers and their realtors as well. Reciprocity goes a long way.

Good luck in your home sale and please, STAY SAFE.